Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Cinematic Universe, Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Now I've finished binging all of Charmed (original one) so I am back to writing for this series 2 weeks later.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help with the chapter again.
Chapter 5- Return of a remnant
Harlem's Paradise
Luke Cage was cleaning up at the place, since it wasn't time to open the club yet, which meant not much to worry about, as he would be done with cleaning the place by the time he was supposed to open it up.
He put the glasses in their place, as well as the bottles, and then arranged the tables and chairs too.
"Well then, what now?"
KABOOM!
People all watched in horror as Harlem's Paradise was destroyed by the explosion, fire and smoke rising everywhere, the debris of the building now strewn all over the street as many of them took out their phones and started recording, while one person called the police.
Some debris was then moved, and thrown off, to reveal Luke Cage who stood up, singed at various spots, and burning too, but due to his indestructible skin, he was unharmed, though his clothes were in tatters.
He ripped off his shirt, throwing it down, now standing shirtless, his abs and muscles as clear for the people to see as his enraged face.
Luke clutched his fists and snarled. "Who did this?"
His phone, which had been unharmed due to being in his grip, then went off, and he picked up. "Who is this?"
"Luke Cage, you don't know me, you're about to."
The call was then cut.
From a rooftop nearby, the culprit watched and walked off calmly, jumping onto another rooftop and disappearing in the night.
Next night
Jessica was drinking some booze while talking to Luke on the phone. "Yeah sure, you can crash here if you want, sorry about the club, that was fucked up, so I'll be waiting. Oh? They are coming too? Well, nice of them to help, considering the world is a shithole."
With that, she cut the call before suddenly she started coughing, feeling a sharp pain in her chest and stomach, and then dropped her booze, realizing someone had put something in it.
"Whoever you are, you made the biggest mistake of your life", Jessica snarled, looking here and there, before someone tapped her shoulder, but when she turned, there was no one there, and then as she turned, she was decked on the face, sending her back and to the ground, shattering a table in the way.
"Fuck you asshole", Jessica snarled as she staggered up and threw a punch but the guy, who was wearing dark clothes and a mask to hide himself, dodged and grasped her elbow, smacking it, then flipped her to the other side.
Jessica's movements were slow and sloppy due to what had been put in her drink, and as she staggered up again, the guy rushed to her and gave her a dropkick, sending her flying off, as she crashed through the window and fell to the ground, groaning in pain and bleeding.
"Jessica!" Luke called out as he rushed to her, Matt, Faith and Colleen right behind him as they kneeled over her.
"Who did this?" Faith inquired.
"Up there", Jessica said as she pointed at her apartment, the glass now broken, and then she coughed before passing out as Matt and Faith rushed inside, with Luke and Colleen staying with Jessica.
"I'll call 911", Colleen said before moving to a distance to do so.
"Jess, Jess?" Luke called out, and got no response, then checked her pulse, and to his relief, she still had one.
"Ambulance is coming", Colleen said as she walked next to Luke, while Matt and Faith returned. A small crowd had gathered by now.
"Whoever did this is gone now", Matt told the two grimly as cops arrived too.
"The guy who blew up my club did give me a call last night, thought it was probably a burner cell", Luke told the three of them. "I think this guy is after all of us, he first blew up my club, then went after Jessica."
"We better be careful then", Faith realized grimly.
"Yeah, we'll have to find this guy soon", Matt sighed.
Next night
Faith and Colleen had finished their first lesson as self-defense instructors, and the students were all gone.
"Thanks for helping out, Faith, it means a lot", Colleen told Faith in appreciation as Faith picked up her bag and put it behind her.
"Not as much as it means to me that you let me have this job", Faith told Colleen in appreciation as she turned to her. "So, see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, tomorrow will be good", Colleen agreed with a nod as they shook hands and then Faith walked out, passing a guy by her as she did so.
The guy walked inside, and called out. "Miss Wing."
"Yes?" Colleen asked, not turning around to face him.
"When will be the next class?" He asked her.
"Tomorrow."
"And when can I join up?"
"Well, there are no classes on Saturday and Sunday, so you can join up on Saturday, and we can get started on Monday", Colleen explained to him while putting her stuff back inside.
"All right, thank you, I was told about your classes by my old boss…Bakuto!"
Colleen instantly whipped around, but there was no one there at all, she was alone, or at least it looked like she was.
But she knew she was not alone, this person was in the building with her. Then suddenly, the intruder leapt at her but she barely avoided by jumping back, and was now face to face with him, a tall man in a suit, and he smirked smugly at her.
"Who are you?" Colleen asked him as they circled each other.
"You are about to find out", he taunted her as she threw a kick which he blocked, then threw his own which she blocked too, then ducked to avoid a punch and decked his face.
She threw some more kicks which he blocked, and then he backed to avoid a spin kick, before kicking her foot, staggering her back.
Colleen then threw another punch which he blocked and then she blocked his punch too before trying to kick but he lifted his foot to avoid, only for Colleen to spin kick the man in the chest, staggering him back.
He recovered just as she kicked again, which he blocked, and then he blocked some more punches before being punched, then he leaned back to avoid a spin kick before she grabbed him and kneed his gut.
Colleen tried to do it again but the man elbowed her and pushed her off of him.
He then blocked a kick before trying to spin kick her but she avoided it. He then charged but she kicked his foot and punched his face, dazing him, and then she swept his feet from under him, making him fall down.
She then tried to stomp her foot on his face but he rolled away to avoid, and as she tried to kick, he grabbed her foot and flipped her down.
The man charged but Colleen kicked his abdomen, sending him back, and got back up, trying to spin kick which he ducked to avoid, and then she threw some punches which he blocked, while she blocked his kick, then decked his face and spin kicked him back again.
He tried to hit her again but she blocked and kneed his gut, then wrapping her legs around his neck, flipped him to the ground.
As the man staggered up, Colleen charged but he lifted her up and threw her down to the ground.
Colleen got back up and as the man charged, she kicked him back. He leapt and gave her two kicks which she blocked, and then ducked to avoid a punch, and getting behind him, kicked his back, staggering him away again.
She then turned and punched his abdomen before kicking his face, then punching him, and then kicked him into a wall. She then ran up the wall and leaping, kicked his chest, staggering him back again.
She then threw some kicks which he blocked and then he dodged another. He then blocked another blow and decked her abdomen before punching her face, and he tried to kick but she grabbed his foot and elbowed it before slamming him into the wall.
He elbowed her and freed himself from her grip, then grabbing her hand, elbowed her again before kneeing her gut and sending her to her knees, but she elbowed his gut, and then punched him between his legs, making him stagger back as he held his thing with a pained grunt.
She then got up and head-butted him, dazing him again, and leaping, grabbed his head between her feet and flipped him to the ground hard.
They got up and she avoided his attack, before grabbing his abdomen and flipping them both to the ground, and then she kneed his abdomen twice, before wrapping her feet around his body and grabbing his neck as both struggled while he stood up.
He then moved back, slamming Colleen's back into a wall, loosening her grip, and grabbing her hand, the man flipped her to the ground. As she tried to stand up, he kneed her in the abdomen twice before punching her abdomen twice too, and then her face twice as well.
Then he kicked her chest, sending her crashing through a door and onto the ground.
Colleen groaned, bleeding all over, and as she staggered up, the man rushed in and flipping in the air, kicked her chest, sending her crashing into a wall again.
Colleen glared and charged but was blocked and got an elbow to the face before being kneed in the gut, and then the man flipped in the air and spin kicked her face, sending her falling to the ground again.
This room had weapons stashed though, and rolling away, Colleen got a sword, ready to use it.
"This isn't a street fight", Colleen told the man, before swinging her sword twice as the man dodged both times, then kicked her hand, though she wasn't disarmed.
Colleen tried to strike with the sword in a spin motion but the man rolled away to avoid, and then he backed to avoid another strike as a flower-pot was broken.
He then picked up a box and used it to block two strikes, though the second one chopped it into two. He then struck with one half of the box which Colleen blocked as the half fell down.
With that, he spin kicked Colleen, staggering her again. She swung her sword again but he ducked first, and then jumped back onto a table to avoid the second time, lying on the table now.
He then rolled away as she brought her sword down on him, and dodged another swing before picking up a staff from her stash.
"Using my weapon to fight me, huh?" Colleen asked.
"Just because its yours doesn't mean others can't use it", the man said with a shrug.
She struck with her sword as he blocked twice and hit her with the staff, before swinging in a spin motion but she ducked to avoid, and they clashed twice before he swept her feet from under her with the staff, sending her falling down.
She rolled away to avoid as he brought it down on her and kicked it out of his hands. "Others can't use it better than me."
Colleen then got up and swung her sword twice, which the man avoided both times, and then he avoided again before trapping her hands, and elbowed her face, before spinning and snatching the sword from her, and sending her falling to the ground as well.
As Colleen got up, she was stabbed in the abdomen, making her gasp as blood poured out of her mouth. He pulled the sword as Colleen's fist glowed, and she tried to use her Iron Fist but he kicked her on the wound, making her moan as she was sent falling to the ground.
Colleen clutched her wound as the man raised his sword to finish her off, but was kicked away by Faith who burst into the room, sending him flying off and crashing through a wall.
Faith then looked at the bleeding Colleen, then turned back to the man, but he was already gone. Groaning, she kneeled to Colleen, putting pressure on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. "You'll be okay Colleen, all right?"
"Th-the…Hand….." Colleen gasped out before passing out, as Faith's eyes widened in horror.
Later
Colleen was taken away to surgery as Faith stood in the waiting room, and then turned to see Luke and Danny arrive.
"We came as soon as we heard", Luke said.
"Is she okay? Did her hurt her too bad?" Danny asked in concern.
"She was stabbed in the abdomen, they are operating on her right now", Faith informed them both, as Danny involuntarily sat on the chair, and Faith patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Luke too stood with folded arms, looking concerned.
"The Hand", Danny said with a snarl as he got up and prepared to move out, but both Faith and Luke held him back. "Let me go!"
"This is what they want, man", Luke pointed out to Danny. "For us to lose control and go after them."
"And then they can ambush and take us down", Faith pointed out. "As someone who is impulsive and reckless, I'm telling you to not do this."
Seeing their concerned looks, Danny relented and sat back down.
At his apartment, Matt was gearing up in his suit when Faith walked in. "Let's go."
"No, I'm going", Matt told her, and now Faith was shocked.
"Why?" She asked. "I am not as skilled, but I'm stronger and faster, and I still do have skills."
"Jessica was stronger and faster, he took her out", Matt pointed out as he picked up his Billy club.
"By putting poison in her booze to slow her down", Faith pointed out to Matt as well, getting slightly angry. "Why do you not want me to help you?"
Matt turned to Faith and explained. "This guy is going after the Defenders, hitting us where we hurt. Even the Hand didn't know who I was under the mask, it's my only advantage. It means you, Foggy, Karen, and my mother are safe." Matt closed the case holding his suit, holding the helmet in one hand, and stood in front of her. "This war with the Hand started with me, and it will end with me."
Unseen to Faith, Stick was there too as a ghost, watching them both, and Faith saw the resolve in Matt's eyes while hearing the conviction in his voice, realizing in that moment that no matter what she said or did, he won't back down from his stance.
"Fine, go", Faith finally conceded, stepping aside as Matt walked out.
"Thank you", he said when she grabbed him by the face and kissed him passionately, and he kissed back before they parted.
Then she told him. "I order you to come back, if you don't…."
She trailed off but the implications were clear, and Matt assured her. "I will."
He then walked off as Faith decided to go back to the hospital in case the man tried to attack any one of Jessica, Luke, Colleen or Danny over there.
Later
Matt ended up in the same warehouse where he had first fought Nobu. He wasn't sure the guy would show up here, but considering the Hand loved being poetic, he had a feeling he would meet the guy right here.
There was a table on the side of the room, it was the same as before really, and then Matt was proven right as the man arrived at last, wearing black and yellow robes which resembled Nobu's red ones from back then.
"Fitting you chose the battleground of your first duel against our order to be your final resting place, Akuma-san."
"Why are you doing this? The Hand is gone, it's leaders are all dead, their resources washed up, and their power extinguished, yet you remain to pick up the pieces, why?"
"It was the Hand who found me, fed me, clothed me, gave me purpose, even my own name is given to me by them, Ikari, the Fury of the Hand. I would have killed you myself had the Hand not entrusted me with my mission."
"Which was?"
"Wipe out any demon who dared to interfere with our goals. Vengeance would have come sooner had I not turn to dust."
The talk was now over, as Daredevil shifted to the important part.
"You hurt my friends."
"I will do worse after I end the Devil of Hell's Kitchen."
"No, you won't."
With that, the two charged each other but Matt was faster and grabbing Ikari, did a double leg takedown, and then picking Ikari up, punched his face and slammed him into a pillar.
Then Matt slammed Ikari into the wall and punched him in the abdomen and chest multiple times. They struggled before Matt flipped Ikari down to the ground.
Then he picked Ikari up but Ikari head-butted him, staggering him back, and then did a helicopter kick, sending Matt crashing to the ground.
Matt staggered up as Ikari hit him with two tornado kicks, sending him flying back and crashing again.
Matt staggered up as Ikari kicked him back, then punched him twice and kicked him too, before kneeing his gut and flipping away onto the table. He punched Matt before picking him up but Matt freed himself and spin kicked Ikari back.
He then decked Ikari twice and kneeing his gut, pushed him away before kicking him back again as he fell down.
Matt walked to Ikari but Ikari swept his feet from under him. Both of them then got up and circled each other.
Matt leapt with a kick but Ikari blocked, then dodged a punch before blocking 2 more blows, and then Matt threw two spin kicks which were dodged too, and Ikari swept his feet from under him, but Matt flipped back up.
He then charged with some spin kicks and punches but Ikari blocked or dodged them, and then Ikari spin kicked Matt's face twice, sending him staggering back too.
Matt leapt with two kicks but both were blocked before Ikari grabbed his arm, but Matt grabbed him too, and both ended up on the ground.
As Matt got up, Ikari flipped in the air and kicked his face, sending him crashing into the table and shattering it.
Matt staggered back up but got a kick, though he avoided the next one, and kicked Ikari, and tried to do it again but his foot was grabbed.
Matt lifted his other one and trapped Ikari's head between his legs, flipping him into a wall which shattered as Ikari groaned.
Both got back up as Ikari charged but Matt blocked his blows and a kick too, then tried to spin kick which Ikari avoided, and as he raised his foot, Matt grabbed it and punched his chest before pushing him back.
Matt then rushed at him and running up the wall, flip kicked Ikari's face, pushing him off again.
Matt then blocked 2 kicks from Ikari and some punches before being punched back. He then kicked Ikari and was kicked back in return too.
Matt then punched but Ikari blocked and decked him twice, and then grabbing his arm, tried to flip him but Matt punched his shoulder from behind. Ikari managed to elbow him back and flipping, kicked his face, sending him down again.
Both got up as Ikari tried to flip kick but Matt dodged it, and then Matt blocked a kick before decking his face, and flipped him into another wall, dazing Ikari. Ikari tried to strike again but Matt blocked and punched his face thrice.
Then he decked him again and kicked Ikari back. Then Matt rushed Ikari and leaping in the air, kicked him hard, sending him crashing out through the window like he had done to Jessica.
There was a splash as Matt realized he'd kicked Ikari into the water, and he rushed to the broken window, but got nothing, no scent, and no heartbeat. Ikari had escaped!
Later, Matt, now in his normal suit, walked to the hospital where Faith, Luke and Danny were, as Faith informed him. "Colleen and Jessica will both be fine."
Matt sighed in relief at that. "Thanks."
"What happened to the guy who came at us?" Danny inquired.
"He escaped, but I did beat him badly, so he won't return for a while", Matt assured the two of them.
"That's good enough for now", Luke said as all four of them stood there, knowing this wasn't over yet.
Ikari limped to his base, where there were various pictures of the Defenders and their loved ones- Jessica, Trish, Malcolm, Luke, Misty, Claire, Danny, Colleen, Ward and Joy.
The images of the loved ones were all pinned with daggers.
For Daredevil though, there was a picture of him in a suit, and that was it. There was no one to connect him too due to the mask he used to protect his identity, so the only ones connected to him were the other Defenders.
Ikari removed his mask, revealing himself to be a man of Asian descent, and wallowed in defeat, feeling every cut, bruise and broken bone from the fight against Daredevil.
He roared in rage before throwing a dagger at Daredevil's picture, pinning the dagger on it.
Then slow clapping came from behind him, and he turned as a woman appeared, dressed in a black and white suit with a bullseye on her shoulder and thigh on the white sections of the suit.
"So, you were defeated?" Ikari remained silent, observing the intruder. "What if I told you I have an offer that can wash away the stink of failure?"
Ikari was silent for a whole minute, staring right at the woman, no emotion showing.
"What offer?"
And the end. Ikari and the woman at the end (obvious who she is) were suggested as villains by 9024multiverse, so thank you to them, and thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for help with the chapter.
Now this is not some unconnected, original plotline, this is actually connected to the main Jasmine plotline, how, you will find out soon.
Angel 4x5 happened at the same time with little changes, and next chapter shall take place at the same time as 4x6 of Angel.
Ikari was played by Kane Kosugi, thank you to Brainstorm Sorcerer for the casting.
Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.